My artistic inspiration

I experimented a lot with my cover illustrations but found myself drawn to a couple of artists in particular.

Probably my favourite artist of all is Terence Cuneo. He was obviously in love with the steam engine and captured their speed, power and weight with such accuracy he made it look easy. But in reading a book specially purchased as background for my project, I learned how much hard work went into each commission. He was up ladders, on bridges and skulking in tunnels, sketching in all weathers and ignoring threats to life and limb in his determination to capture the essence of the Flying Scotsman or a broken down goods engine. His ellipses are perfect and I find his treatment of midtones and light and shade inspirational.

Syd Mead is a very famous industrial designer who worked for Ford before going freelance. He designed the props for Blade Runner when I was a student but before that was well known for beautifully executed conceptual visions of the future. There is no dystopia here. Just like Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds, the future for Syd Mead is something to look forward, too. Looking forward to the future is an old-fashioned viewpoint these days but I love that feeling of progress and glamour that Syd gets across. I tried to get hold of a copy of Syd Mead's Sentinel recently but they go for a fortune. However, I'm lucky enough to hgave a couple of Car Styling magazines that feature Syd's work. He works in gouache and his original paintings are often tiny.

Obviously my work is nowhere near these two artists but I know I'll keep on being inspired by them.